Books surround us, inspire us, and managing our library account is a formidable task. So, here's the ever-growing list of our favorite books for tykes, to help us keep track and to share with you too!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Comics Rock!

Scooby Doo. Archie and Friends. Mickey Mouse. Scrooge McDuck, Spiderman. Sonic the Hedgehog. Tiny Titans. Zig and Wiki. Otto. Amelia Rules. Alison Dare. Ben 10. Bone. And, the list goes on... appropriately, Erik recently discovered comic books and fell in love with them. Luckily, we have a wonderful comic book section in the Kids' Section of our library. And, there are a plethora of new comic and graphic novel titles for pre-K through high school readers. Basically, Archie's still out there, but there are a lot more modern heroines and heros to be discovered too. I've tracked down all sorts of great comic book and graphic novel resources for kids...

First, if you're looking for a comic shop in your area that sells comics for kiddos, check out this site: http://kidscomics.com/

And, speaking of great comics for kids, last night we read Zig and Wiki in "Something ate my homework" by Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffle, and the kids loved it. Then I realized that this book is associated with the comic book "Silly Lilly" that Becky gave Madeline for Christmas last year – TOON Books are featured right here, and come in three reader levels which you can buy online too. Their Web site is great and full of activities, ideas, lessons and online fun like a free carTOON Maker. Check it out.

Another resource, for comics for older-than-preschool kids is Kids Love Comics! which features comics like Alison Dare, Bone, Yarg!, Polo, Go Girl, Owly, and Amelia Rules, among others. Check out their blog right here.

And, then of course, there is the favorite in our house... the Tiny Titans. We've got them at our library, but you can also find them at your local comic shopor subscribe and get them in your mailbox each month (how cool would that be?)!

Coming up this month at a participating comic book store near you... Free Comic Book Day! The first Saturday in May, comic shops all over the country (and world!) give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. This year FCBD is on May 1st, and you can find a participating store near you right here.

I'm loving the comic book format for the kids. The graphics help even 3-year old Erik "read" the story, the text is short, conversational, and full of action, and they are far more interesting than Bob Books or other beginning readers.

3 comments:

Hey there! On behalf of TOON Books, thanks for the mention! In fact, we've just come out with another book entitled Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker. We'd love it if you added us as a link at toonbooks.com. Thanks again and happy reading!

Annmarie and Joseph both love graphic novels. I've found a selection of Level 1-3 readers that are in the graphic novel style. Very cool books with sight word practice. Such a great concept. And Annmarie is all over the Japanese vampire series that reads backwards... she's read 14 or so of them now! Anything that encourages reading and engages kids is a good thing!!